9 Reasons Not to Talk About Your Diet or Weight Loss at Holiday Gatherings
Plus: 9 food-related survival tips and 9 resources to help you survive the holiday diet culture gauntlet. (I didn't mean to make all these lists in "9's" but kinda cool that it wound up that way?)
A quick note before we dive in: I’m trying to make as many newsletters and podcast episodes free (like this one!), especially this time of year.
That said, if you’re able to support Full Plate as a paid subscriber, that is truly what allows me to continue this work, and it helps others access it. So a deep, heartfelt thank you if you choose to do so!
Purchasing someone a year-long subscription is also a great gift for the holidays, or asking for it as a gift for yourself is a lovely idea too 🫶
And with that, let’s get into it!
The holidays are…complicated. They may mean a house full of family, and they may mean a quiet week to yourself. Maybe time spent with a friend, a partner, or at a chosen-family potluck. Some of us walk into difficult dynamics, grief sitting beside the mashed potatoes, or joy intermingled with the exhaustive lists of endless “shoulds.”
However your holidays look—loud or tender, busy or open, crowded or intimate—one thing stays true: the way we talk about food and bodies shapes the emotional temperature of the room. And diet talk has a way of pulling the warmth right out of it.
One comment about “being good,” “being bad,” “trying to lose a few,” “hitting the gym tomorrow,” or “saving up for later” can ripple out farther you may realize.
This isn’t about policing anyone’s bodily autonomy. This is about remembering that our words land in other people’s bodies, too.
So, here are nine reasons to pause before bringing up your diet or weight loss at a holiday gathering.
(ahem, feel free to pass this along to…whoever needs to hear it.)